The Price of a Promise
by 23a
Summary: Any vow a magician makes is binding. And a deal is a type of vow, meaning they are binding too. The Dark One knew this, which is why he never broke a deal. The one time he did, it took what he valued most away from him. Now, Cheyenne has made a deal she has no intention of keeping, and she needs his help to get out of it.
1. A Binding Deal

**A/N:** **So, I came up with this idea and decided to make it into a mini-fic, as of now it will be about 10 chapters or so.**

Cheyenne was bored. At 12 years old, she was exceptionally bright, and had finished all of her schoolwork in a few minutes. Now she lay back on the couch, not sure what to do. Not a single one of her friends was available, and the only other person she had to hang out with was her brother Max's annoying friend James. James had a badly hidden crush on Cheyenne, and it was annoying. As she was sitting, James came up to her.

"Hi, Cheyenne!"

"Go away, James. Please."

"Cheyenne, I have a deal to propose."

"What?", asked Cheyenne.

"When you come of age, you marry me, and until then I leave you alone."

"Deal", Cheyenne said, with no intention of keeping the deal.

...

At 15 now, Cheyenne had forgotten all about about her deal with James. She now had more important things on her mind - her new-found magic. She had learned simple spells, and her mother was teaching her more from an old book. Cheyenne was the first person in her family in 7 generations to have magic.

...

"Cheyenne", her mother said softly, coming in to their Storybrooke apartment.

"Yes?", the 19-year-old girl replied.

"Do you remember your deal with James?"

"Yes. I'll just break it though, Mother."

"Dear... you can't. According to this book, any vow a magician makes is binding."

"And..."

"A deal is a type of vow. Which means that if you break your deal, there will be consequences."

"But I said I would marry him when I came of age!"

"Yes."

"And I come of age in less than two years!"

"Indeed."

"So I have that long to figure out a way out of this."

"Correct."

"What do I do?"

"Speak to an expert in deal making", her mother advised.

Cheyenne though for a moment before realizing who she meant. "Rumpelstiltskin."


	2. The Only Hope

**A/N: So, I realize the last chapter was poorly written. This one's short, but hopefully it's better. It's all set up for the main part, though it might have even fewer parts then I originally planned - possibly only 5 or 6. **

She walked up to the shop nervously. It said "OPEN", so she walked in.

"Yes?", asked the man at the counter.

"Hello. I'm Christina Miller."

"But that's not your real name."

"No, it's my cursed name. My real name is Cheyenne Greene."

"And what is it you have come here for, Ms. Greene?"

"I... I made a deal. One I have no intention of keeping."

"So break it."

"I - I can't. I have magic."

"What?" He looked at her. "What have you done?"

"I said I'd marry a man I don't like."

"Why?"

"I was 12! And I didn't even know I had magic!"

"Just keep putting it off."

"I said I would do it when I come of age."

"And when is that?"

"In under 2 years time."

"And you are here... why?"

"I want you to help me break it."

"I cannot do that."

"You can try."

"Why should I?"

Cheyenne sighed. "What do you want in return?"


	3. Deals With the Devil

Rumple looked her in the eye, unnerving her. "I don't make deals anymore."

"Well maybe an exception?"

"No."

"I'll give you anything."

His expression grew curious. "Anything?"

"Yes."

"Then I might just have a plan."

* * *

"Time travel? You are kidding, right?"

"No. Emma can do it. She has traveled before, she can use the wand to do it again."

"But why would she?"

"I'll deal with that. The point is, you can stop yourself from ever making that deal."

"There has to be a less dangerous way."

"There is not."

"Well -"

"You don't want to do it? Then go ahead and marry that man."

Cheyenne sighed. "Fine. And what is it you want again?"

"Use the wand to go forward about 5 years, go to my castle, and say that future me sent you and that you need to get something from the vault. Give him this as proof." He handed her a leather satchel. "Then get the red box."

"Um... okay. And if it goes wrong?"

He shrugged. "That's your problem."

"Alright", Cheyenne said. "Meet you where?"

"The woods, 9 pm. I won't wait for you."

* * *

Cheyenne trekked through the woods to the spot they were supposed to meet at. Rumple was there, with the sheriff - Emma - and the wand.

"Ready?", he asked.

"Ready", Cheyenne said.

Emma waved the wand and the time portal opened. She handed the wand to Cheyenne. "Good luck, Cheyenne", she said.

"Thanks", Cheyenne replied, and jumped in.


	4. Preventing Disaster

Cheyenne thought about the moment she had made the deal, and there she was - in her living room. James and the younger Cheyenne both looked up. James screamed.

"Who - who are you?", the younger Cheyenne asked.

"I'm you. From the future."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Look, mini me. You have to not make that deal you were about to make."

"But I want him to leave me aloooone!"

"Do you want to marry him?"

"Eww no! I have no intention of _keeping _the deal!"

"Hey!", James said.

"Mini me, every deal you make is binding. You make that deal, you _have _to marry him."

"Yuck!", young Cheyenne said, and turned to James. "No deal!"

"But Cheyenne -!"

"Sorry", young Cheyenne replied, "But no way."

Cheyenne smiled and used the wand to open another portal. Next stop: Rumpelstiltskin.

* * *

Cheyenne landed right outside the castle, figuring it would be better to knock. If her memory was correct, the curse had been cast when she was 17, so right about when she was now. She knocked, and several minutes later Rumpelstiltskin answered, in all the horror of his Enchanted Forest persona.

"Who are you?", he asked rudely.

"Cheyenne Greene, sir."

"And what do you _want?_"

"I'm from the future, sir. You sent me."

"That's ridiculous", he replied, then scoffed.

"You said to give you the satchel as proof", she said, handing it over.

He took it skeptically, then looked in it and gasped. He pulled out... a cup. With a piece missing. He ran into the house, then came back.

"So you are from the future", he said.

"Yes, sir, I am."

"Why did I send you?", he asked.

"I need to get something from your vault", she said.

"Very well", he replied. "You have 3 minutes. No more."

He waved his hand, and she was in the vault. Using the magic, she searched around for the red box, also counting. She was at 2 minutes and 50 seconds when she found it, grabbing it tightly. Then she was back outside the door.

"Do you have what you need?", he asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Then Good Riddance", he replied, handing her back the satchel with the teacup in it.

"Goodbye sir", she replied, walking off into the woods. She conjured the time portal, and stepped in to go home.


	5. Not What I Had in Mind

Cheyenne was back in the shop, wand in hand. Rumpelstiltskin came out of the back. "What have you done?", he asked.

"Exactly what you said. Here's the box." She handed him the box.

He shook his head. "Look at the wand."

She looked. It was still glowing. "Why..."

"You", he said, his voice angry, "have created a time paradox."

* * *

"How could I have created a time paradox?", Cheyenne asked. "I affected only my life! I'm not important!"

"Well you must be", he said. "What did you do?"

"I told myself not to make the deal."

"And that was all?"

"Well, I wanted a reason, so I said it was binding!"

His eyes widened. "You told yourself that rule?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"That must have done it! If young you knew that, it might have prevented you from making a different deal! Are there any other important deals you made?"

"Well... no... but really it's promises, right? I did promise a fairy once that I wouldn't ever tell anyone where she was."

"What fairy?"

Cheyenne looked at the wand again and her eyes widened. "The one who owned this wand."

"Then that did it. Somehow, it ended with me not getting the wand, and now a paradox. You have to fix it."

"How?"

"You have to go back and stop yourself from going back in time."

"Ok..."

She opened the portal again and stepped inside.

**A/N: So yeah, the next chapter will be the last one. **


	6. Simpler Solutions

Cheyenne found herself back at the moment she first traveled back, just as she was about to enter the portal.

"Stop!", she yelled.

Her younger self turned around. "Huh? What's going on?"

"You cause a time paradox by going back. Don't do it!"

"But... I need to get out of the deal!"

"Don't. Do. It."

At her insistence, the younger Cheyenne gave the wand back to Emma, who closed up the portal, and walked away. The older Cheyenne smiled, then handed the box to Rumpelstiltskin and went back to the time she had left from.

"I'm back", she said, entering the shop.

"From what?"

"From you sending me back to fix the time paradox."

"I sent you to do that?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh. Well anyway, you succeeded, so good job and goodbye."

"Bye..."

Cheyenne walked home to find a letter from James. "Can't wait to marry you!", it said.

She wrote back, happy to write what she was writing.

_James, _

_The deal was that I would marry you if you left me alone until then. By writing this letter, you didn't, and I don't have to marry you. So... thank you!_

_Sincerely, Cheyenne_

Smiling, she sent the letter and went to bed.

The End


End file.
